A Goth warrior was found buried with his weapon in the three-aisled cemetery basilica that came to light in 2010, after excavations for the Thessaloniki Metro.

Archaeologists report they have made a great discovery while excavating a graveyard next to the remnants of a three-aisled cemetery Basilica. The early Christian basilica is occupied by a cluster of tombs, most of which are vaulted. It is in one of them, archaeologists found the skeleton of a Gothic warrior and his weapons. The best preserved of his weapons is a sword which was found folded (bent). The type of weapon found next to the soldier, as well as the folded sword, are two elements that we knew until now only from Western Europe. It is probable that he was a gothic soldier, as Byzantium employed gothic mercenaries especially in the last decades of the 4th century onwards. They were experienced warriors and had a reputation for being good warriors.

“What seems to "unlock" the identity of the warrior, is that "the sword was deliberately folded, not broken", explains archaeologist Melina Paisidou, who together with PhD candidate Errico Maniotis will present the study "Arming a soldier of the Basilica of the Fountain" at the 33rd Archaeological Conference for the excavations in Macedonia and Thrace.

In 2010 archaeological excavations uncovered much of the city's eastern cemetery. Specifically, it brought to light about three thousand burial monuments which came to enrich our knowledge so far about the organization and continuous use of the space from the Hellenistic period to Late antiquity. The tombs belong to various types, pit-shaped, box-shaped, pot burials, altars, altar-shaped structures, vaulted single or twin.

The main element and rarity of the find, which will be mentioned by Ms. Paisidou and Mr. Maniotis at the conference, is that there is this series of vaulted tombs inside a temple, which means that this Basilica was built in such a way that they included, so they were important people who belonged to the Christian religion. A special honor was also the fact that this warrior was buried with his weapons.

"It is rare for weapons of this period to be found in excavation contexts, even in Greece. "Most of the corresponding findings we have are from Balkan and Western European countries," explains Ms. Paisidou.

"In Thessaloniki and in wider Macedonia, this sword diploma is found for the first time", Ms. Paisidou emphasizes.